


Thunder Cuddles

by orphan_account



Series: Collection of short fics [9]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Thunder and Lightning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-10
Updated: 2012-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-22 12:25:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/913194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You should write Merlin and Arthur in bed while it's raining and Merlin is scared of the thunder."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thunder Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [achelseabee](https://archiveofourown.org/users/achelseabee/gifts).



> A late birthday gift for Chelsea. (Written September 10th 2012)

Arthur bent down and pressed a kiss to Merlin’s cheek, feeling almost as though he could taste the soft golden glow of the candlelight as it reflected off Merlin’s skin. Arthur hummed into the kiss, loving the scratch of Merlin’s stubble against his nose, and tightened the curl of his fingers around Merlin’s wrists, pinning him to the bed.

Merlin made a small, soft sound deep in his throat as Arthur nuzzled down to kiss his jaw. Evenings like this were perfect - when the dark depths of winter were creeping in, cold air was stirring outside the castle walls and the two of them had little to do but retire early and breathe each other’s air for hours. Arthur smiled to himself as he shifted his hips against Merlin’s, pushing down in a slow circular motion which made Merlin’s teeth sink into his bottom lip.

Leaning in even closer, Arthur brushed his mouth against Merlin’s ear and whispered, “I’m going to have you tonight, Merlin. It’s far too cold to let you wander back through the castle.”

It was then that Merlin drew an audible breath, pulled half-heartedly at Arthur’s hold on his wrists and turned his head until they were nose to nose.

“Arthur,” Merlin murmured, his voice no more than a broken gasp. “Is there going to be a storm?”

Arthur frowned and pulled back a little, unable to picture quite what innuendo Merlin was trying to draw up. “I was thinking more an enthusiastic blow,” he admitted with a grin.

“No,” Merlin began to say, tugging a little harder at his wrists and letting his brow crease with a frown. Just then, there was a rumbling of thunder outside and Merlin froze. His arms locked where they were bent awkwardly above his head and the whole line of his body beneath Arthur went stiff. The frown disappeared from Merlin’s face and was replaced by a look of terror, his bright blue eyes opening wide in fright and his lips making a small, pink ‘o’ shape.

“Merlin?” Arthur said, lifting his chest off Merlin’s and staring down at the way Merlin’s muscles were tensing under his bedshirt. “What’s wrong?”

“Arthur, please—” Merlin gasped. His eyes were starting to glisten with tears and, to his shame, it took Arthur several long moments to realise that Merlin was tugging hard at where Arthur was holding down his wrists.

Arthur let go at once, pushing himself back and up until he was just resting on Merlin’s legs, looking down at him in confusion. Merlin had never looked like that before. They had stood side by side and faced a dragon, countless sorcerers and even a ferocious army, but Arthur had never seen Merlin’s eyes darting back and forth with such speed — with such  _fear._

“Merlin?” Arthur said again, his voice low and unsure. “Merlin, if you don’t want to then—”

Merlin cut Arthur off with a choked noise which sounded like ‘no’. He shook his head, chewed his lip so hard the skin blossomed red and a smudge of blood appeared, then blinked back a few more tears.

“Merlin,” Arthur tried once more, quieter this time. “What is it?”

The room was suddenly lit by a flash of cold light outside the window, followed almost at once by another clap of thunder, and Merlin let out a sob. He curled his arms into his chest and tried to do the same with his legs - Arthur could feel the twist of Merlin’s knees against the back of his thighs. He lifted himself completely off Merlin at once and wriggled under the blankets beside him. Merlin rolled onto his side and turned his back to Arthur, who wrapped his arm around Merlin’s hunched shoulders and kissed his nape.

“It’s alright,” Arthur mumbled, rubbing his hand along Merlin’s bicep and staring at the back of his head. “It’s just a storm.”

“I know,” Merlin snapped, sounding surprisingly irate for someone whose whole body seemed to be radiating fright. “I just— don’t like them.”

Arthur wanted to smile at the blinding obviousness of Merlin’s statement, but he could feel the tension in Merlin’s muscles and he could tell this wasn’t something to be laughed at. Instead, he fixed his face with a concerned frown and tugged lightly at Merlin’s shoulder until he rolled onto his back, staring up at the canopy over Arthur’s bed.

“Why not?” Arthur asked, reaching over to brush Merlin’s fringe off his face and smirking when Merlin huffed in annoyance and shook the bloody thing right back across his forehead.

“In Ealdor,” Merlin said, his voice sounding much calmer as he reached for Arthur’s arm and wrapped it around his waist. “One year, we had a chicken with an egg that wouldn’t hatch. The mother kept brooding it for days but nothing happened and  _my_  mother kept saying that it must’ve died inside the egg so I—” Merlin bit his lip again and shifted onto his side, looking Arthur straight in the eye. “I did a bit of—” he wiggled his fingers in the air “—and it hatched. Like a miracle.”

Arthur smiled at that, picturing a little Merlin clasping a baby chicken in his hands and grinning uncontrollably.

“But then,” Merlin continued, dropping his gaze from Arthur’s face and staring at his own fingers as they drew patterns on the sheets. “We had this weird link, the chick and I, so every time it cried for its mother in the paddock I got this ache of dread in my stomach and every time there was a loud noise outside the coop or a bad storm I had this paralysing spike of fear go through my whole body. It—it stopped being so intense when the chicken died but ever since then thunder has always put me, um, on edge.”

As if on cue, thunder rumbled through the room again. Arthur watched as the muscles of Merlin’s jaw tensed beneath his skin. He lifted his hand from Merlin’s hip and tucked a few curling locks of Merlin’s hair behind his ear, then slid forwards on the bed until they were almost nose to nose again.

“I won’t tell you not to be afraid,” Arthur whispered, taking Merlin’s hand in his own and bringing it to his lips for a gentle kiss. “I know how hard it is to switch off childhood fears.”

Merlin’s lips quirked into a shy smile at that and Arthur knew he must have been remembering the secret Arthur had once told him about a crippling childhood fear of cabbage. Arthur guided Merlin’s hand to wrap around his chest and then eased onto his back, tucking Merlin’s shoulder under his armpit and trailing a forefinger over Merlin’s shoulder blades.

Merlin hummed contentedly and Arthur grinned, pressing his nose into Merlin’s hair and muttering, “But I’ll squeeze you tighter for each thunder clap until you’re more worried about your eyes popping out than any loud noises.”

With a snort of laughter Merlin shifted his head back and gazed up at Arthur with a bemused expression. Arthur leant down and kissed Merlin’s lips, soft and warm but with enough pressure to let Merlin know that he wouldn’t be letting go any time soon. Merlin buried his fingers in Arthur’s hair, pulling him even closer until Arthur could feel the heat of Merlin’s breath against his cheek.

Arthur grinned into their kiss, spreading his fingers out on the smooth skin of Merlin’s back and stretching his other arm over until he could press his palm against Merlin’s ribs and tuck him even tighter into Arthur’s chest. One of Merlin’s legs inched over until his knee was slotted between Arthur’s own and they lay together, listening to the sounds of the storm outside the castle.


End file.
